“Tamyra will be grateful. Thanks for everything, Max.”
“Sounds like the thank-you goes to you, Laine. And after what Riley said last night, I’m kind of surprised you would have been willing to help her.”
Laine laughed slightly. “Riley is an odd little creature who gets under your skin. You just can’t seem to shake her.”
Max laughed. “She’s been under my skin for years. She’s been like a daughter to me. My heart was broken last night. I knew she had come so far. And I couldn’t believe what had happened. I felt like it was my fault, but I still couldn’t let it go without repercussions.”
“Well, now we know that she has come far. Very far.”
“She deserves a huge apology from me. I shouldn’t have assumed the worst.”
“Don’t beat yourself up, Max. We all had those initial assumptions. Thankfully, we were incredibly wrong.”
Two security personnel entered through the glass doors. “Security is here, so I’d better let you go.”
“Thank you again, Laine.”
Laine hung up the phone and watched as the guards hovered over Mia like vultures while she emptied out her desk. “A police escort is waiting outside, ma’am,” one of them said to Laine.
“You said no police!” Mia quaked.
“I said no charges. I didn’t say no police. And honestly, Riley will decide what charges will be pressed against you. So that is why we’re going to the hospital and you get to tell her everything that you’ve done,” Laine said as she walked in front of Mia to the door.
Christian opened the door as Laine reached for it. His eyes grew wide when he saw the security guards behind her escorting Mia with her brown box of belongings. “What’s going on, Laine? Max didn’t give me a lot to go on.”
Laine touched his arm. “Let’s just say last night wasn’t all it seemed, Christian. We’ll explain later, but right now Mia and I have an appointment at the hospital.”
“She set Riley up, didn’t she?”
“Almost perfectly,” Laine responded.
Mia walked out the door and passed Christian without so much as looking at him. He grabbed her arm as she stepped in front of him. “Did you erase that message from Riley, Mia? The day we were at the meeting? I left my cell phone on the table when I went to the restroom. Riley said she called. Did you see it and erase it?”
She looked at him with no expression. “Yes,” she said flatly. Then she jerked her arm free and walked beside the security guards to the waiting patrol car.
Laine got in first and let out a heavy sigh. She found herself praying for Tamyra. She hadn’t “found herself praying” in a very long time.
* * *
Riley and Winnie paced the waiting room. The doctors had taken Tamyra into surgery immediately. The damage to her airway was extensive and they had no time to waste. Riley turned when she saw Laine come through the door.
“How is she?” Laine asked.
Winnie wrung her hands. “We don’t know. No one has been out since they took her to surgery.”
“They took her straight to the OR,” Riley confirmed.
Laine shook her head. “It’s horrible, isn’t it?”
Riley nodded. “Yeah, it’s pretty bad.”
“Well, I know this isn’t the time or place, but could you two come outside for just a minute?”
Riley watched as Winnie looked at Laine and Laine gave her a nod.
“How about you take Riley and I’ll wait here to make sure we don’t miss an update from the doctor. I promised her mother I would call her as soon as I heard something.”
Laine gave her a soft smile. “That sounds good.” She nudged Riley toward the door.
“What is it?” Riley asked as she followed Laine to the exit.
“Something that will set you free.”
The glass doors opened automatically and she saw a patrol car to one side of the covered entrance. Mia stood beside it. “Laine, tell me you didn’t demand a police escort.”
Laine shook her head. “No, Mia demanded the police escort. Didn’t you?” Her words were tossed to Mia and not to Riley.
“Mia, who’s taking care of the guests?”
Laine interjected. “Max has asked Christian to handle it until you get back.”
Riley couldn’t hide her confused expression. She let out a half laugh. “Until I get back? What’s going on here? Honestly, someone needs to tell me now.”
“Tell her. Now,” Laine said.
Mia looked at Riley, her eyes flat and cold. “I drugged you, Riley. I gave you two antianxiety pills. One in your water. The other you took yourself at the bar.”
Riley’s head was spinning. What was Mia saying? She rubbed her head, then looked back up. “You did what?”
“I drugged you. You weren’t drunk, Riley. I gave you something that made you seem inebriated. You weren’t drunk last night.”
Riley felt the words slam into her chest. She tried to suck in the air that had just been sucked out of her. “You mean . . . you . . . you took advantage of what I told you and used it against me?”
“She wanted your job, Riley,” Laine said. Then, to Mia, “Now tell her what else you did.”
Mia lifted her chin in an arrogant manner. She cut her eyes at Laine and back at Riley. “I knew Max and his guests were going to show up early. But I didn’t tell you.” She stopped there.
Laine wasn’t about to let her get off that easy. “And you . . .”
“And I sent the contracts to Max when I knew they were supposed to go to legal.”
“And?”
Mia’s jaw pulsed. “And the message you left for Christian, I erased.”
“Any more of your conscience you need to clear?” Laine quipped.
“Only the part that holds memories of you.”
“Touché.”
Riley tried to digest everything she had just been told. But she couldn’t believe someone could be so malicious. “You wanted my job?”
“Yes, Riley. I wanted your job.” She tossed her head.
“Why didn’t you just work your way into it?”
“Riley, you’re so naive. You had just gotten there. I didn’t want to wait until
